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Month: January 2017

MVP front-runner Matt Ryan is on a hot streak at the right time. He has guided the Falcons to five straight victories, including a 36-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round. Ryan has thrown 14 touchdowns and no interceptions in the five-game stretch. He needs to make sure he plays turnover-free Sunday with a Super Bowl berth on the line.

Ryan certainly knows what’s at stake as he goes up against two-time MVP Rodgers, another quarterback who’s on fire.

“I don’t specifically have to go out on the field and defend Aaron, which is a good thing for us,” Ryan said with a laugh this week. “I played against him a number of times. I’ve gotten to know him throughout the years. He’s a good friend. And I respect him so much because he’s such a great competitor.”

Ryan won the last battle between the two during Week 8 of the regular season. But Rodgers won the most important one when the Packers marched into Atlanta as the underdog during the 2010 season and knocked the Falcons out of the playoffs with a 48-21 thumping. Rodgers went on to win the Super Bowl.

Ryan certainly doesn’t want history to repeat itself in the final game at the Georgia Dome.

And Packers wide receiver Davante Adams, coming off an ankle injury, will present a challenge to cornerbacks Robert Alford and Jalen Collins. Not to mention the slight possibility of Jordy Nelson returning from a rib injury; he dipped behind the Falcons’ defense in Week 8 for a 58-yard pass play. All of that adds up to a tall challenge for the Atlanta defense.

The league may also compete directly with the Canadian Football League, which has its season during the summer and is one of the few off-brand professional football leagues to have any sustainability. Presumably one or both leagues would suffer because of diminished talent pools and attention.Game Mens Xavier Rhodes Jersey
Fassel’s last coaching gig was as the head coach of the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League, which was once thought of as a potential developmental league for the NFL before folding in 2012. He also served as the league’s president of football operations. Presumably his experience explains his giddiness about an NFL spring league, but his enthusiasm alone won’t make the product palatable.

Kids Darron Lee Jersey That’s not to say that a spring league couldn’t be successful. The NBA’s summer league has a following from diehard fans. College football fans would be interested in seeing their undrafted graduates compete to get signed by NFL teams, and Tim Tebow hucking a football will be a big draw even if it’s in a funny uniform for low stakes. The league would be a continuation of the NFL’s other measures to give players second opportunities to succeed, too, in addition to regional and veteran combines.

Miami has the cap space to eat that extra $5 million, but after an already expensive offseason that included the pricey signing of Ndamukong Suh, discount shopping for a veteran makes sense.

Finding a veteran to contribute wasn’t a must for the Dolphins. Jarvis Landry is already a promising young receiver who was productive as a rookie, and the younger acquisitions give Tannehill plenty of new targets to work with. A veteran with Pro Bowls in his past should be able to help the younger receivers, but $7.5 million of cap space is a little too much for that role when Jennings is available to do it for a third of the cost.

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To combat these obstacles, Beyer and his teams give their clients a crash course on the inner workings of Chinese culture when they arrive, including how to manage the relationships with their teams, coaches and front-offices.

“The personality part is extremely important,” Beyer said. “Chinese people in general are very warm people. If you buy into the culture and be warm to them, they will be warm to you 10 times of that.”

Former Brigham Young standout Jimmer Fredette is helping his Shanghai Sharks lead the standings in his first CBA season while averaging more than 37 points and eight rebounds a game.

However, Marbury still stands as one of a kind despite being nearly 40 years old. Many Chinese fans say that there are two kinds of foreign players: Marbury and everyone else.

The most disconcerting issue for the Bulls is that the mental errors never seem to get fixed. Unless Butler, or to a lesser extent, Wade takes over late, the Bulls find ways to lose games instead of finding ways to win them.

Arizona Diamondbacks Authentic Jersey “This is a very young team with young guys we’re counting on who has to play in these games and they have to go through these moments,” Wade said. “The one thing you want for them, whether it’s this year or next year, whatever, you want them to get to the point where they’re learning and not making the same mistakes, we’re not making the same mistakes as a unit. But when you’re counting on young guys, you’re going to have these bumps on the top of your head sometimes.”

Sheil Kapadia, NFL Nation writer: Yes. Even when the opponent has the perfect coverage called on a given play, Rodgers’ ability to buy time and make high degree-of-difficulty completions is unmatched. Sometimes, it feels like he is making “heat-check” throws just to test the limits of what he’s capable of.Authentic Kids Brandon Knight Jersey
Michael Rothstein, NFL Nation writer: Rodgers has been amazing over the past two months and is a big reason the Packers are a game away from the Super Bowl, but I’m hesitant to say he’s the best player on the planet.

Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler went 23-of-40 for 198 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. The Patriots, who advanced to their sixth straight AFC Championship with the win, are among the elite teams the Texans want to compete with. But Saturday’s loss, combined with the 27-0 blowout loss Houston suffered at Gillette Stadium in Week 3, show how far the Texans are from competing with the AFCâ€™s best.

A lot of that has to do with their inconsistency at quarterback. Osweiler has had games in which he has shown some promise — including last week’s first-round playoff victory over the Oakland Raiders — but most of the season, he has shown he is not good enough to be the Texansâ€™ starting quarterback. Even in the games in which he showed promise, his statistics and efficiency were average at best.

â€œAs an offense, we need to score more than 16 points,â€ Oâ€™Brien said. â€œYouâ€™re not going to beat the Patriots scoring 16 points.â€

Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts
I’ll just ask what I think is an interesting question. Are we really sure he’s even the best running back on the Colts? He closed strong last year, but Gore went nine games before Week 16 without reaching 100 yards rushing. He’s 32 now and tied his fewest touchdowns since his rookie year last year. Meanwhile, Dan Herron showed he had value down the stretch last season, and Vick Ballard (if he can stay healthy) is plenty talented as well. Herron is a wild card, and Ballard has missed basically all of two seasons, and Gore is almost certainly the best Indianapolis running back. But there’s that little almost.

A Australian mom made the news for posting pictures of her breastfeeding two toddlers at once except heres the ting- one wasnt her own. Apparently she has worked out a relatonship with her friend that allows her to breastfeed both children while the other mom is at work- she calls the boys “milk siblings” which is pretty badass and will probably not make it weird for them when they get to middle school.

First of all if you’ve never made the journey through breastfeedng moms facebook I highly recommend it. Its full of healthy hints and tips for why breastfeedng is actualy good. Its like having a militant group of people posting every spare thought who have somhow convinced themselves that people who wear hats are being violoentley persecuted during the playing of national anthems.

Second of all from a Darwinian perspective, this makes no sense. if you want to pass your genes down and have your child have a better chance at procreaton why are you literaly giving nourishment to his competition? What if this other boy grows up to one day murder your son bet you’d feel stupid. I mean its probably not going to happen but from a evolutonary standpoint this is bad parenting.

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After months of DeflateGate uncertainty in Boston, it’s actually the Pittsburgh Steelers who find themselves shorthanded due to suspension for Thursday’s NFL season opener. The Steelers will be without one of the NFL’s most prolific offensive weapons in Le’Veon Bell, one of the last true bell cow running backs left in the league.

Bell’s serving a suspension stemming from a marijuana arrest in 2014. It’s only two games, but Bell’s absence leaves the Steelers searching for a way to fill the void.

First, the ground game. The scouts from the 18 NFL teams in attendance had to grade Miller positively for his pass catching skills and his ability in the open field. We still don’t know how well Miller can run routes, but the early results are intriguing.

So now the Chargers have until Tuesday to decide whether to move the team to Los Angeles, where the franchise was founded in 1960, or remain in San Diego, where it has played for the past 55 years.

In December, the Chargers announced that the team had entered into an agreement to lease land for a temporary training facility in Orange County, should the team exercise its option to move to Los Angeles.

The Chargers agreed to lease part of a Costa Mesa office campus, along with a nearby 3.2 acres for temporary offices and a practice facility. The land in Costa Mesa would serve as the initial location of the team’s office headquarters and practice and training facilities.Alejandro Bedoya Jersey
Faulconer’s last-ditch proposal to keep the team here was a projected $1.2 billion new stadium in Mission Valley, current site of Qualcomm Stadium, which included a potential $375 million in public contribution.

Eli Manning hit Larry Donnell for a 12-yard touchdown with 21 seconds to play as the New York Giants stunned the San Francisco 49ers Sunday night, 30-27.Game Tavon Rooks Jersey
The Giants have now won three straight to take over first place in the NFC East, while the 49ers have lost four straight.

Carlos Hyde gave the 49ers a 27-23 lead with 1:45 left, but they couldn’t finish the game.

The Giants had all three timeouts, but Manning faced the last drive with a banged-up receiver corps. Victor Cruz was in street clothes, while Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham were on the sidelines with hamstring problems.

San Diego is in a bit better shape at this point. Philip Rivers is playing well, and the Chargers picked up a win over the Cleveland Browns in their last outing. Bad losses to the Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings preceded that win, but they have an opportunity to get a streak started on Monday.

Rivers will be getting his favorite target throughout his entire tenure in San Diego back on Monday as well. Tight end Antonio Gates was suspended four games for performance-enhancing drugs but that suspension is now up and he’ll join a Chargers offense that is already playing fairly well for the most part. Rivers has completed 70.7 percent of his passes for 1,248 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions on the season.

Game Ben Bishop Jersey Keenan Allen is having a breakout year, with 33 catches for 387 yards and three touchdowns, and Ladarius Green has filled in well for Gates through four games. Green has 14 catches for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Gates will be expected to hit the ground running and immediately be a contributor on offense, while Green may actually benefit with some of the top coverage off of him.

Leonard Williams Game Jersey Miami Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake (91) and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, wait to enter the field during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, in Miami Gardens, Fla.

Miami Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake (91) and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, wait to enter the field during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, in Miami Gardens, Fla.Jermon Bushrod Game Jersey
No doubt. With every game he plays, Wake is a reminder to the rest of the NFL. Getting it done on the field is the best way to stick it to ¡¯em. For some, though, that wouldn¡¯t be enough. Wake could be one of those dudes who walks around with a chip on his shoulder. Definitely could be. But he¡¯s not. At least not these days. ¡°Well, if you would have asked me back in 2006, ¡¯07, maybe I would have been a little chippy about it and still had some thoughts¡± to share publicly, Wake said. ¡°But that has come and gone. It¡¯s been a while now. I¡¯ve been in the league. I¡¯ve been playing. You move on.¡±

The cornerback position is a mess; it has been all season, really. They finished the regular season ranked 31st — second to last — in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game (269.3), and they have more questions about the health of their cornerbacks.

Quinten Rollins appears unlikely to play because of a neck injury and a concussion, and Damarious Randall couldn’t finish last Sunday’s game at Detroit because of a knee injury. They held Odell Beckham Jr. in check (five catches for 56 yards and one touchdown) during the regular-season meeting but might struggle to do that well again.

Jordy Nelson had one of his worst games (four catches for 38 yards and one touchdown plus a dropped pass that turned into an interception) in the first meeting against the Giants, but he has been on fire of late. During the six-game winning streak, Rodgers has completed 83 percent of his passes to Nelson, compared with 55.9 percent in the first 10 games. The Rodgers-Nelson connection could be what sends the Packers into the second round.

After meeting with trainers on the sideline, Savage went to the locker room for further evaluation, leaving Brock Osweiler under center for the team. Later in the second quarter, Savage was cleared to return, and finished the first half by taking a knee to send the game into the half. However, Osweiler would re-enter upon the start of the second half, as Savage was reevaluated at the half, and ruled out.

These are pretty damning accusations and would show more justification than necessary for firing Baalke as the team looks for its fourth head coach in as many years.

But with both the GM and head coach given the boot and a team with personnel issues at nearly every position, it¡¯s not shocking to see so much finger-pointing heading into the offseason. Especially for someone like Kelly, who was one of the hottest coaching prospects a few years ago.

It¡¯s also a bit suspect to pin a disaster of a season on not selecting a quarterback who ended up as the 135th pick. And there¡¯s no saying Prescott would¡¯ve been as successful without all the talent around him in Dallas. That¡¯s to say nothing of the fact that Colin Kaepernick threw for 16 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Still, the number of different narratives coming out of San Francisco today shows just how many problems the organization has. All of which the Niners will need to prove have been solved by firing Baalke and Kelly.

The New England Patriots will try to rebound from a two-game losing streak when they take on the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Sunday Night Football, which will be aired at its usual channel on NBC and streamed online here.

After a 10-0 start that had many people thinking about a perfect season, the Patriots’ undefeated start came to a crashing halt against the Denver Broncos in Week 12. They followed that up with a shocking home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and dropped to the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoff picture.

New England is also dealing with multiple key injuries on offense. Julian Edelman is missing another week with his foot injury, while Rob Gronkowski is questionable for this week’s game. Gronkowski did travel with the team, so they will likely wait until close to kickoff before announcing whether he’s active. Danny Amendola is also questionable, but he’s expected to play.

A pair of Packers fans helpfully summed up the last 20 minutes of Twitter for you.

I don’t know if the Broncos just didn’t respect Ford’s abilities or what, but it was hard enough to keep the guy from making plays on Saturday even when they had a blocker on him. I can’t understand how they thought not laying a finger on him would turn out any better.

Before I forget, Ford had another pressure rushing from the right in the third quarter. He came off a little slow for once, kind of like he was spying Siemian. With his teammate Tamba Hali rushing as three technique inside of him getting pressure and forcing Siemian out of the pocket, Ford turned on the jets to make Siemian throw the ball away once more.

Add all of those together and you come up with seven pressures, a tackle for loss, an assisted tackle, and oh by the way, Stephenson was flagged for jumping early twice when lined up across from Ford as well.

Screw your stat sheet, that’s one hell of a game in my book!

Dee Ford had another opportunity on Sunday to show what he could do with Houston out of the lineup. The Chiefs needed the Ford of the first 10 weeks of the season to make an appearance if they had any hope of winning a game with their playoff standing on the line.